This Isn't Over Till it Ends
by loopyem89
Summary: Andrea has to confront the biggest battle of her life
1. Chapter 1

**Ok so I am back with another multi chapter story. Enjoy and feel free to let me know what you think and if you're interested in reading more. All mistakes are mine and as per usual I don't own any of the characters etc**

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><p>Miranda pursed her lips with dissatisfaction, the meeting to plan the coming month's issue of Runway was not going how she had hoped. Her team seemed to be lacking inspiration despite having the opportunity to showcase some of the most talked about fashions for the upcoming season. There were some days in which she wished she could reset and begin over and when Emily came rushing in and disturbing the meeting only a few minutes later she knew that today was going to be one of those days. If Emily valued her career she knew very well not to interrupt unless there was an emergency or if the Editor had specifically asked her to do so beforehand. Her assistant stood there for a second, obviously uncomfortable about whatever it was she was about to say.<p>

" I do trust you are still able to effectively communicate things to me Emily, I have no intention of sitting here all day waiting for you to verbalise whatever it is you need to say."

"There was a call from the Presbyterian hospital, Andrea apparently collapsed in the Mirror offices earlier."

To the untrained eye Miranda appeared to remain emotionless, any distress by the news not shown for others to see. However Nigel who had been sitting across from her at the other end of the table saw the brief flicker of fear pass behind her facade upon hearing Emily's words and was quick to stand and follow the woman as she made a move to leave the room.

" You all have two days to come up with ideas worthy of being printed in Runway, we'll reconvene then and I require results. If you don't have any by then I don't expect you to come back. Failure will mean the termination of your career at this publication and any others for that matter."

Miranda hurried back to her offices, Nigel and Emily following in her wake.

"Did the hospital say anything else whilst on the phone?"

"Only that you were down as her emergency contact and she had asked for you."

Not even waiting for her assistant the Editor left her office and collected her own bag and coat.

"Call Roy, have him downstairs now."

"He's at the front ready and waiting." Again, Miranda was reminded of why she kept Emily as an assistant. The red was always able to anticipate her needs, only one other had been able to ever do that and she was now currently in a hospital waiting for .

"Nigel I trust you can manage anything pressing that comes up in my absence."

"Of course and Miranda whenever you have a chance, let me know what's happening and if there's anything we can do for you or six..."

"Of course, thank you my friend."

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><p>Miranda made her way through the emergency room of Presbyterian. The sound of her heels clacking upon the cold floors of such sterile surroundings seemed overtly louder than usual. Not a hair was out of place nor was there a single crease in the pin striped suit she had been wearing all morning. Her seeming calm demeanour overall not revealing the inner turmoil she was feeling as she approached the front desk.<p>

"Can you show me to where Andrea Sachs is currently residing, my office received a call informing me she had been brought here from the Mirror."

A young nurse politely smiled as she pressed a few keys and looked at a computer screen.

"Of course but first of all I need to know who you are and whether you have any identification, I'm afraid only relatives are allowed on the upper floors at this time."

For once the Editor was cursing the fact that the woman appeared to be one of the few who paid attention to the the gossip rags, in particular Page Six.

"I am Miranda Priestly, Andrea Sachs is my wife and I would like for you to tell me why she appears to have been moved upstairs. Secondly I would appreciate it if you didn't delay me from seeing her anymore with your pointless questions. You already know she requested my presence since this hospital called me directly."

A doctor who had been writing in a file and had obviously overheard the exchange decided to step in before the nurse found herself out of a job.

"It's ok Diana, i'll deal with this. Ms Priestly i'm Dr Anderson if you would like to follow me I can take you to your wife and I can fill you in as we go along."

The two of them fell in step as they began heading down a corridor towards the lifts and pass numerous patients.

" I initially treated Andrea when she was brought in, she was complaining of nausea and an intense headache. She had apparently also had a severe nosebleed just before she collapsed."

" She has been complaining of a headache on and off for a month or so now. She assumed it was a migraine, the newspaper she works for had been stretching her lately and she's been coming home exhausted most nights."

The pair stepped into an elevator, Miranda thankful that no one else followed them in before Dr Anderson pressed a button to take them up.

" Well it may very well be something as simple as that. Such things affect us all differently however to be on the safe side once I was happy she was stable i sent her to neurology to be examined. She should be back from having her scans by now so I'll take you directly to her."

Miranda simply followed, unsure of what else to say. She knew Andrea had been unwell, only like the woman herself she had believed it was just a minor ailment and so had not shown much concern, instead just holding her wife and giving her comfort when it had been requested on those longest of days. Now as she made her way through the bland corridors of her surroundings a sliver of fear began to creep into her mind.

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><p>She found her wife sitting on the side of the bed, legs swinging back and forth looking rather alert. She had been expecting her to be lying down at least, machines beeping in the background, not sat up looking like she was just here as a visitor. However upon closer inspection she could see the red swollen eyes and evidence of dried tear tracts upon her delicate skin.<p>

"Darling are you alright?"

Upon seeing the Editor Andrea's eyes lit up and she immediately stood to pull the woman towards her. While Miranda welcomed the embrace she also knew there was something more to it, her wife was almost desperately clinging onto her.

"Darling..."

"I love you Miranda."

Andrea had pulled back so she was facing the love of her life. She would often wake before the other woman in the morning and had gotten into the habit of just staring at her trying to memorise every little detail, line and feature of her wife. Miranda never revealed that she had on numerous occasions actually awoken during such moments and chosen to remain still whilst eyes wandered upon her. Now as they stood there in the hospital room it felt like one of those moments, expect this time Andrea wasn't hiding the fact she was trying to take in every part of Miranda.

"I love you too. Darling are you alright? I was told you were brought in after collapsing at the Mirror, I thought you were going to rest and work from home today?"

" I was but then I realised I left some things at the offices and so decided to go in for a little while. I honestly felt fine, it was only after an hour or so the headache started up again and then when I got up to leave I noticed my nose was bleeding and then things kind of just went black. I woke up on the way to the hospital."

"Dr Anderson said you'd been to have a scan? Have you been told anything?"

Upon hearing the question Andy stepped back and resumed her position on the bed, only this time pulling Miranda with her so as they were eventually sat beside one another. The younger woman purposefully curled herself into her wife's side and Miranda automatically wrapped her arm around the woman. It was then that Andy began to weep again.

Miranda turned slightly to see the tears falling down her loves face.

"Andrea….what's wrong?"

She had moved slightly so as to bring her hand up to rest against the side of the brunette face, her thumb slowly caressing the soft skin of her cheek, wiping away the tears that had escaped. The movement stopped however upon hearing the whispered words spoken from her wife.

"I have cancer."


	2. Chapter 2

**Thanks for all the follows and reviews :-) Always good to know people are reading and interested in more. Hopefully I will be able to update this story fairly regularly. Again this chapter is unbeta'd but if there's anyone who would like to take on the job feel free to msg me :-)**

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><p>Miranda barely had time to take in the news before the door opened and in walked another doctor.<p>

"Ah you must be Miranda, I'm Dr Evans, a neurologist."

Any other time the woman would pay attention to his friendliness, his looks and how smartly dressed he was. More often than not these days it would be out of jealously, the desire for no one else to admire her Andrea but she. Possessive she may be but she was also not ignorant of her wife's beauty, after all she had been captured by it herself.

Dr Evans held out his hand for the Editor to shake, she however chose not to acknowledge it, choosing to keep her arms wrapped around Andrea. He instead gave her a small smile before moving across the room to flip a switch on the wall. A light box illuminated in front of them and Evans smoothly removed some scans from a folder he was holding and placed them on the board.

"I've had a chance to examine the MRI images a little closer Andrea. They show you have what we call a Glioma."

"What's.." Miranda had to clear her throat her throat from the lump that had settled there.

"What is that exactly? Cancer..?"

"I know the other doctor Andrea spoke to earlier to referred to it as cancer but to be more specific it's actually a tumour. We would normally take a biopsy in order to determine whether it is benign or malignant, in other wards cancerous. However in this case it's difficult given the location."

Andrea's heart sank, until now she had been quiet allowing Miranda to ask the questions she needed to know but now she was having to face the reality of the situation as it was laid out before her.

"Difficult how? Is it operable?"

Evans turned back to the scan, his fingers tracing over the image.

"The tumour has wrapped itself around the brain stem which complicates matters due to the importance it has in the body functioning. Think of it as a map made up of numerous nerves. Attempting a surgical procedure is extremely dangerous due to the risk of damaging one of these and if that happens you could end up with impaired abilities or paralysis. Worse cases scenario would result in death."

"Okaaayy." Andrea drew out the word and let out a shaky breath.

Miranda stood, turning her back upon the images and closed her eyes. Her body was tense, she was on edge and wanted nothing more than to take Andrea and just run but there was nothing she could do, no where they could hide that would shield them from the nightmare they had found themselves in. She gave herself a moment to try and regain some equilibrium and then found herself doing something she had been doing all her life; rallying against the impossible.

"I refuse to believe this, I don't accept it."

Andrea reached out to grab her wife's hand. If there was ever a time she needed her strength and the comfort of a simple touch then it was now.

"There must be something we can do."

Dr Evans turned back to the scans.

"Surgery has to be a last resort, the risk factors are simply too high. However we have the option of chemotherapy and radiation. Considering how long you have been suffering with symptoms and the size of the tumour now it appears to be slow growing. With some luck and an effective treatment plan it might be possible to stop, even shrink the growth. That may give us the option of surgery later on."

"So there is a chance I could get better?" Andrea felt unsure but she needed to know, she needed to know that there was at least a chance, that not all hope was lost.

Evans looked uncomfortably between the two woman in front of him. He had a duty to give the facts and while he enjoyed his job he also hated to be the bearer of bad news.

" I won't lie, the odds are not in your favour Andrea. The long term survival rates for people with this type of tumour is barely into double figures. You're going to have a battle on your hands."

The grip Miranda had on Andrea's hand tightened. The likelihood of her wife not beating this was terrifying her. And by the look on the younger woman's face, the Editor could tell she was feeling the same following the life altering news. If there was ever a time Miranda needed to live up to her ice queen image it was now, Andrea needed her more than ever and she would do all that was necessary to give her the love and support she required.

"Darling i'm going to make sure you get the best care possible. You're young, strong and until today relatively healthy, there is no reason why we cannot fight this."

The only thing Andrea registered in that sentence was 'we'. They would fight it together, with Miranda beside her she knew she could find the strength she needed to give herself a chance. She summoned the courage and smiled at wife before looking back at Dr Evans.

"So what's the plan?"

"Well I have a colleague at Sloan-Kettering who specialises in this sort of thing, a Dr Elaine Gulden. I can get in contact as soon as possible and we'll devise a plan of action."

Miranda nodded in agreement.

"She is one of the best Andrea, I was going to suggest her myself. We've met on numerous occasions at charitable dinners and her reputation is unprecedented. You'll like her I'm sure."

The brunette simply nodded her response, her faith in her wife meaning she had no questions about the plan.

"Good, we'll get treatment started as soon as possible. We'll be in touch to arrange everything. I know this news has come as a shock to you both. Take your time, there's no need to hurry out." He gave them an apologetic smile to try and make up for the fact he delivered some of the worst possible news they could have heard. Andrea was at least grateful and gave a half smile back whilst Miranda just gave him one last look before he left the room. The two women were now left in complete silence.

They still hadn't let go of one another and as Andrea tugged Miranda back down to sit next to her she took a moment to observe the Editor. She could see what the woman was trying to do; taking in the news, compartmentalising and pushing forward. It was a coping mechanism she knew her wife used all the time, every day. But this wasn't a normal day and this wasn't a simple bit of news that could be pushed aside. Miranda was hurting too and Andrea wouldn't allow the woman to bury her pain to try and save her the anguish of seeing it.

"We'll fight this Miranda, you said it yourself. We'll fight it. I don't want you thinking about the worst case scenario. The treatment will work and yes things may be bleak for a few months but it will all be worth it in the end."

For the first time since Dr Evans left the room Miranda turned and looked at the woman she loved. She ran the back of he free hand delicately over her wife's cheek before tucking a loose strand of hair back behind her ear.

"I can't lose you Andrea...Not now."


	3. Chapter 3

**Ah sorry for the delay in uploading the next chapter. A 3 day working trip to Paris turned into a 2 and a half week long vacation across France...Again this is unbeta'd so all mistakes are mine. **

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><p><strong>Chapter 3<strong>

The two women had retreated to their bedroom once they had arrived home. It was only the middle of the afternoon and Andrea had insisted that Miranda return to Runway but the Editor was having none of it. Given the news they had just received there was no way she was going to leave her wife on her own. Furthermore she knew that getting any work done in the office would be futile. Instead she had insisted in accompanying in Andrea to their room where she could rest in comfort and keep her company. As her wife settled upon the top of the duvet Miranda grabbed a light weight blanket to lay on top of them both to keep the chill at bay. She then proceeded to settle into their favourite position to sleep, Andrea on her side with Miranda spooning from behind.

"We'll have to tell the girls. I don't want to keep them in the dark."

"I was thinking the same thing. We can't keep this from them. They will soon realise that something is wrong, you know what they are like."

"Of course I do, they're miniature versions of you; beautiful, perceptive and wickedly smart." Miranda smiled a little at the thought.

"I think it's best to tell them once we know for certain what is going to happen, that way we can prepare them and answer any questions they may have."

Andrea only murmured her agreement. Her attention had become focused on the photograph sitting on the small table on her side of the bed. Her wedding day. They had many a photo from the day but this had been her favourite, so much so she even had a copy on her desk at The Mirror. She lovingly had her arms wrapped around her new wife from behind as she looked into the camera, while Miranda on the other hand gazed up at her bride with nothing but adoration in her eyes. The beaming smiles they both wore reflected just how perfect it had been for them. The Editor had offered her the big white wedding but when it came down to it Andrea knew that wasn't what she had wanted. Instead they had retreated to the Hamptons with a small group of family and friends. The press didn't even catch on until a few weeks later when they had been spotted out at an event wearing their wedding rings. It had been a day filled with promises of a lifetime together but now as she laid there in the arms of the woman she loved she wasn't even sure if she would be able to fulfil them all.

"Miranda..." Andrea stopped. The tears were inevitable and her voice was only a whisper as she struggled to get the words she wanted to say out.

"I've never been more scared in my life."

Miranda couldn't help but close her eyes as she gave the woman's hand a squeeze before placing a soft kiss to the back of her neck

"I know Darling, I am too." She tried to hold back the tears herself but to no avail.

"Andrea, I love you. I love you so much."

The younger woman turned to face her lover and held on tight.

Miranda was the first to get herself together. She drew backed away a little, kissed Andrea's forehead and then placed light kisses over her eyes and cheeks brushing away the new tears as she went.

"Darling, please don't cry. Please… You have to believe me that this isn't over till it ends. We're going to fight this with everything we have, we'll do what must be done. " She again wrapped her arms around Andrea's neck giving her young love the comfort she sought.

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><p>Miranda quietly left the bedroom, closing the door behind her. Andrea had finally drifted back to sleep and she wanted to leave the woman to get as much rest as possible. She resisted the urge to go back in, spoon her wife and pretend that all was ok. There were things that needed to be done and plans that needed to be made. Retreating downstairs to the next floor she made her way to her study to make a couple of calls.<p>

The first call was to check in with Emily to ensure nothing had turned into a disaster at Runway following her early departure. After determining everything was satisfactory and listing off numerous instructions for her assistant to accomplish, she asked to have Nigel put on the phone.

"Miranda is everything alright? How is Six?"

Leaning forward on her desk to rest her head in her hand the Editor let out an uncharacteristic sigh.

"Nigel I would appreciate it if you could come over to the town house, there are a few things we need to discuss. Just let yourself in quietly, you'll find me in the study."

"Of course Miranda, I'll be over right away."

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><p>Nigel was hesitant as he entered the town house. He knew something was off with his boss from the sound of her voice on the phone and her choosing to not answer his question on Andy made him speculate that something was clearly wrong.<p>

Moving through the house he had visited so many times before, he made his way to Miranda's study. He gently knocked on the door, only entering when he heard the quiet summon for him to do so. Immediately he could tell something was wrong. His friend of over twenty years looked dispirited and barely acknowledged him as he came to sit in front of her. It wasn't a side of Miranda he was accustomed to often. In fact the last time he saw her so downcast was after the end of her first marriage to the twins father. Ever since she had kept a tight rein on her emotions, only letting her guard down on the most rarest of occasions.

"Miranda are you ok? Where's Six?" For the first time since he had entered the study the Editor looked at him and Nigel could see she had been crying.

"She's upstairs resting. I asked you here because there are things we need to discuss, however i'm not sure how to..." She trailed off, at a loss on how to explain everything.

Nigel knew he was right with his guess that something was terribly wrong and now he could tell for sure by the way his boss's shoulders had hunched in anticipation of whatever it was she was about to reveal. Unable to look her friend in the eye, Miranda instead had shifted her gaze onto the band she wore on her ring finger.

"Lately Andrea hasn't been well, she's been experiencing severe headaches and such. We passed it off as exhaustion from work. Turns out that wasn't the case."

Nigel subconsciously shifted forward in his chair as Miranda pressed on.

"After she collapsed at the Mirror this morning they did some tests and the doctors have determined she has a brain tumour."

Nigel exhaled loudly and leaned back.

"How bad is it?" Miranda again wouldn't meet his gaze and didn't answer immediately. In truth she had been avoiding trying to think about Andrea's chances of survival.

"It's not good."

"Miranda I'm so sorry." What else was there for him to say, he knew how unfair the world could be and now it seemed the universe had dealt his two friends with one of the cruellest of blows.

He studied Miranda has she attempted to gather her thoughts. He could see how she was trying to get her self into Editor in Chief mode, yet he could see through the facade, see the pain she was going through and he wondered with her being strong for Andy, who was there to comfort her.

"As you can imagine the next few months are going to test us all. A plan needs to be put in place so that Runway doesn't suffer."

Nigel sighed, he wouldn't allow his friend to bottle it up. He leant forward placing his hand on top of hers where it rested on the desk.

"It's alright Miranda, you don't have to hide from me. Surely you know by now you can trust me. I'm your friend and I want to help."

Miranda wasn't sure whether it was the attempt of comfort from her friend or simply the days events catching up with her but either way she suddenly stood, her temper seeming to get the better of her as she raised her voice.

"Its not alright, I just don't understand why it is happening to her! My wife has cancer Nigel, cancer and its slowly going to kill her unless the doctors can do something and after speaking to one today its looking doubtful!"

As the Editor finally vented her anger and despair at her friend, neither heard the study door open as the woman in question appeared in front of them.

"Miranda?"


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